Shark Rising, Champion's Donwfall
by Sanokal
Summary: The story of Shark's fall from grace, before he was known as Shark, and simply as Reginald Kastle. Based on canon events. Please Review!


**Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL: The champion's downfall.**

**In episode 12 of ZEXAL, we were introduced to a flashback of Shark's fall into depression. He was disqualified from a duel in the Nationals, as he had looked, albeit accidentally, at his opponents deck.**

**Later, it was revealed that this was deliberate, and that Shark (though he wasn't known as such yet) was under pressure to help his sister.**

**This is the story of the duel.**

**Note: IV's name changed for the dub, to Quattro, so I've updated this accordingly.**

Reginald Kastle was waiting in the lobby breathing hard. He was ready to face off against Quattro, a champion prodigy like himself.

It was Reginald's first year at the Nationals. And he was under so much pressure!

He had to help his little sister, and if _that_ wasn't enough, he'd become a crowd favourite.

Checking that Quattro wasn't sneaking a peek, he flipped through his deck. Despite their grotesque appearance, he treasured each card deeply. The fans certainly didn't mind. They'd even started dubbing him "Shark" after the cards.

He heard footsteps, and instantly covered his cards. Quattro was walking out of the room.

Then he heard it.

A soft smack, as Quattro's deck hit the ground.

He knew that he shouldn't. But he couldn't stop himself.

He stood up, and walked over to where Quattro's deck lay.

Four cards were face up.

Skill Drain. Necrovalley. Gravekeeper's Descendant. Mirror Force.

He didn't see the camera recording his infringement.

At the duel field, the two faced off. Quattro readied his simple Duel Disk and Duel Gazer, while Reginald pulled out his personal Duel Gazer and blue Duel Disk.

A mechanical voice intoned: "Authentic Reality Vision Link established."

"Let's duel!" the two cried.

Quattro was first, drawing a card.

"I set one monster!" he called, and yellow squares formed the image of the card.

"I play a facedown card!" he added. "That's me done."

Reginald drew. "I summon Hammer Shark!" he called, and a blue shark appeared in a twister of white foam. (1700/1500) "I then activate its effect, by decreasing its level by one, to three; I can summon another fish-type monster from my hand!"

He selected the card that he wanted. "I special summon Friller Rabca!" he called, and a snake-like yellow shark swam into view. (700/1500)

Quattro grinned. "He has two level three monsters."

Reginald raised his hand. "I overlay the level three Friller Rabca and Hammer Shark!" he called, and the two monsters turned into orbs of blue energy and spiralled upwards. "With these two monsters I build the overlay network that xyz summons this man-eater, Submersible Carrier Aero Shark!" he yelled.

The orbs blasted into a red spiral portal that had just opened, and then it shut, releasing a wave of energy that shifted into the form of two mako sharks joined by an orange device with a sensor in the middle, and steel, blade-like teeth. (1900/1000)

"Now I use Aero Shark's effect!" yelled Reginald.

"I don't think so!" replied Quattro. "Go, Skill Drain!"

One of the cards that Reginald had seen flipped face-up.

"This negates the effects of all monsters on the field at a cost of 1000 life points!" laughed Quattro as his life points decreased to 3000.

_As I thought. Too bad that I have a counter for that. _Reginald allowed a small grin to creep onto his face, as he selected a card in his hand.

"I play Mystical Space Typhoon!" he called, and a whirlwind tore across the field and shattered the Skill Drain card.

Quattro just shrugged. "I guess I can't complain. Good move there, Kastle!"

Reginald frowned. "I use Aero Sharks effect! By using one overlay unit, it can dish out 400 points of damage for every card in my hand! And I have three cards!"

One of the blue orbs surrounding Aero Shark zoomed into its sonar, and it launched three torpedoes, then those torpedoes split into four smaller ones. They slammed into Quattro, reducing him to 1800 life points.

Reginald breathed heavily. _I have to win this!_

Quattro picked himself up, wincing slightly and spouting false congratulations.

He knew that Reginald wasn't stupid and that he could see past Quattro's act. But he had to keep up his appearance before the crowd. The so-called "Shark" set two cards and ended his turn. Quattro frowned. _Now that is taking being cautious to the extreme._

He drew his card. "I summon Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier in attack mode!" he yelled. (1500/1000)

The yellow pixels formed the card, and the monster rose up, a shrouded figure with a gold headband that held a long spear.

"Then I flip summon my Gravekeeper's Guard, and his effect sends your monster back to your hand!" added Quattro. The card flipped up, and the form of a corpulent figure in a black robe that showed his stomach arose, clutching a staff. (1000/1900)

Reginald's eyes widened in shock as Aero Shark returned to the extra deck, and the Hammer Shark overlay unit went to the graveyard.

"Go Gravekeeper's Guard, attack Reginald directly!" called Quattro. The large spellcaster slammed into Reginald, leaving him gasping. His life points dropped to 3000. "And now my Spear Soldier attacks!" added Quattro, and the spearman charged.

"Go, trap card, Zeus' Breath!" yelled Reginald. An armoured figure appeared on the field, and raised it staff, sending a blast of wind at the monster, blasting it backwards. "Sorry," commented Reginald. "This trap can negate the attack of one of your monsters."

Quattro just shrugged again. "Excellent counter!" he said. "Your move Kastle."

Reginald grimaced. _Sheesh. What's with this guy?_

He drew, and grinned. "I summon Drill Barnacle in attack mode!" (300/0)

The monster rippled into view, an ugly barnacle-like creature. Reginald held up another card. "When I normal or special summon a fish, sea-serpent or aqua type monster like my Barnacle here, I can bring out my Shark Stickers!" (200/1000)

Drill Barnacle turned and Quattro saw a blue shark with a suction cup on the top of its head attached to its shell. Quattro grinned. "He has two level three monsters again, hmm?"

One again, Reginald raised his hand. "I overlay the level three Drill Barnacle and Shark Stickers!" he called, and the two monsters turned into orbs of blue energy and spiralled upwards. "With these two monsters I build the overlay network that xyz summons Submersible Carrier Aero Shark!" he yelled.

The orbs blasted into the red spiral portal that had opened, and then it twisted shut, releasing a wave of energy that shifted into the form of the two mako sharks joined by an orange device.

"And there you have it, folks!" called the announcer. "The skill of Reginald Kastle to bring out his xyz monster continuously!"

"Aero Shark, attack that Guard," called Reginald. "Devouring Dive!"

The shark blasted towards Quattro, and sliced through the Guard. Quattro yelled as his life points dropped down to 900.

"My turn's done!" called Reginald.

Quattro laughed as he stood up. "My turn and I draw!" he cried. He held up a card. "I set one monster!" he called. Then he turned the card on his disk. "Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier goes to defence mode. "And I'm finished."

Reginald drew. "Aero Shark attacks!" he yelled, and the shark tore into Quattro's monster. "I end on that note!"

Quattro drew, and laughed. "First I flip summon my Gravekeeper's Curse!" he called, (800/800) and the card flipped up, a bolt of energy striking Reginald, dropping him to 2500 life points. "Then I'll play Necrovalley!" he called. "This powers up all Gravekeeper's monsters by 500 points!"

The crowd gasped as the legendary tomb rose up above them. "And I summon my Gravekeeper's Assailant!" he added, and the form of a dark robed woman with a golden headband leaped up and struck a dangerous pose. (1500/1500)

"She attacks!" yelled Quattro, and the Assailant leapt up and charged. Aero Shark was destroyed, and then the Curse dived in, and slammed into Reginald. His life points hit 1100.

"Your move, Reginald," said Quattro.

Reginald drew._ I have to win!,_ he thought desperately. He smiled at his draw. "I summon Skull Kraken!" he called, and an octopus resembling a black, upside-down skull burst from the ground in a cloud of rubble. "And when he's normal summoned he destroys one face up spell card in play!" yelled Reginald, and black ink poured from the monster, causing the Necrovalley to vanish.

The crowd sat there in awe.

"With that pesky card out of the way I can activate my Salvage spell card to add two WATER monsters with less than 1500 points to my hand! I select my Shark Stickers and my Drill Barnacle! Your move!"

Quattro wasn't happy, but he just smiled. "You really are an exhilarating opponent . . . It's almost like you have something to fight for . . ." He drew his card, grinned and made his move. "I summon Gravekeeper's Chief by releasing my Curse!" (1900/1200) he called. A grim robed figure arose. "And I can bring back a Gravekeeper's monster once per turn!" he added. "My Spear Soldier arises."

Reginald wasn't worried. "Gravekeeper's Chief attacks Skull Kraken!" Quatro yelled.

"Go Friller Rabca!" yelled Reginald. "Protect my monster!"

"What!" cried Quattro, as the yellow shark leaped out and snapped at the Chief. The Chief faltered, his attack points dropping by 500, to 1400.

"When you attack a fish, sea serpent or aqua monster, my shark banishes itself to negate the attack and reduce the attack of the attacking monster by 500 until my next end phase!" called Reginald.

Quattro grinned. "Good, struggle like that! Your Kraken is toast! Go, Spear Soldier, attack!" But to his horror, it bounced off the Kraken, and his life points dropped to 800. Reginald grinned. "My Kraken can change its battle position once per turn with its own effect."

"I end my turn, then," muttered Quattro, but he knew that everything was going along to plan. Reginald was panting; he was so focused on victory! He wouldn't know what hit him.

Reginald drew. "I play Moray of Greed! By returning two WATER monsters in my hand to my deck I can draw three cards!" he called. He drew the cards he had gotten. _Yes! Just another turn. I can win on my next turn!_ "I summon Needle Sunfish in attack mode!" he called. A fat, torpedo shaped fish appeared, swirling. "Then I activate my trap card. Torrential Tribute! When a monster is summoned, it destroys all the monsters on the field!"

A blast of water shattered the monsters, leaving the field empty.

"I set two cards and end my turn!" called Reginald. Now he had his Trap Jammer that could counter any destructive traps, and his Final Offering to protect himself.

Quattro drew. _Excellent. This is the final play!_ "I play one card face down and end my turn!"

Reginald gasped. _Could it be! Mirror Force! I can counter that!_ He drew. "I summon Big Jaws!"

Amid a twister of water, a blue shark with a massive fanged mouth appeared, and roared. Reginald was about to attack, his hand was raised . . .

And then everything stopped. Red X's flashed with the word STOP written on them. Quatro smirked across the arena.

"Whoa, folks, we have just discovered footage that shows Reginald Kastle looking at his opponent's deck! As a breach of the rules he is now disqualified and victory goes to his opponent, Quattro!" called the announcer.

Reginald couldn't believe it. He wanted to shout, to protest. But there he was, clear as day, looking at the dropped cards. He turned and ran, his waistcoat flapping in the breeze.

He was devastated.

Quattro watched him go. The commentators had taken their sweet time! Had they not done what they had, he would have lost. Of course, he would have had only himself to blame. Setting up his deck on a pot plant where he knew that it would fall.

Under so much pressure, pressure he had instigated, Reginald had been easily tempted.

He laughed. It was good to be him.

**Well there we go! What do you think?**

**I know that Aero Shark is actually different. I have one; actually I have a lot of Shark's cards. (And I use them too.) I made this up as I wrote it, so the cards in the players hands might be wrong somewhere, but I think I'm alright. I also had Shark use Trap Jammer, as it was exactly the same as the trap card Deep Sea King's Judgement that he uses in episode 34 (another of my favourite episodes.)**

**All these events are canon. Quattro is really that much of an evil sucker. He's one of my favourite villains, because you know how to annoy him, even though he's one sadistic kid. But, like all villains, he has a different side; he's done this all for his family.**

**I thought I could shed some light on Shark; he's easily my favourite ZEXAL character, with only Kite really rivalling him. Especially because they haven't screwed him up for the dub in any major way. Same goes for Quattro, I mean, really, it's not like they would have kept his name as IV when you think about it. His voice and his personality seem just brilliant as well. We must wait for episode 33 dubbed though – the "fan service!"**

**Anyway, for those who want me to do ORichalcos, don't worry, it's coming along. **


End file.
